Focus: A show of faith or class divide?

Legislation that provides separate state schools for Catholic pupils is almost 90 years old. Kenny Farquharson asks if it needs updating to give parents greater choice

Ciaran Wilson and Caitlin Dunn live in the same neighbourhood in the east end of Glasgow. Every morning, they take the same route to school but, when the bell rings across the playground to signal the start of the school day, they walk through separate doors into different schools.

Five-year-old Ciaran goes into St Teresa’s primary, a Catholic school, while Caitlin, 10, goes into Saracen primary, a non-denominational school. Both share a campus in Keppoch, along with Broomlea primary for children with special needs. All the pupils on the campus share the same dining hall and playground, but they have separate classrooms and teaching staff.

Keppoch is part of a bold experiment in new schools across Scotland — an attempt, say its proponents, to counter the age-old rivalry between Catholics and Protestants.

Religious division in schooling has traditionally been part of Scottish society, enshrined in law since 1918 when Catholic schools